Recently I made the acquaintance of a new species within the Dream Syndicate, wander stones. Wander stones are nomadic, elemental beings that travel in small herds known as a ruckus or larger, more dangerous herds that are called a calamity. The process for designing these resin fantasy sculptures wasnโt without itโs challenges- I had over a dozen setbacks before the wander stones were fully brought to life!
A trio of wander stones.
Watch Wander Stone | Process for Designing a Resin Fantasy Sculpture
As many things so often do, these earth elemental creatures began as vague sketches in my sketchbook that I refined and from there I sculpted a full-grown wander stone. I have it mind to an image with over a dozen of these creatures, but thought I might start with molding and resin casting a sculpture of a wander stone. Iโd originally thought I was going to make a planter of an adult creature, but settled on making a younger, cuter wander stone.
Wander stones reproduce in a strange way. A new wander stone is brought into the world during auspicious occasions when a herd is gathered. Members of a herd chant in their rolling, gravelly baritones rhythmically drumming on the ground, their bodies, and stamping their feet while a few find the rocks within the area that have the right resonances, sculpting and refining them. Finally a rune is carved on the forehead depicting some significant event occurring during the birth of this being, this could be an eclipse, a volcanic eruption, or the sprouting of a blade of grass, summoning an earth spirit that becomes a wander stone.
The sculpture is largely made from Sculpey polymer clay with a few Apoxie Sculpt touch-ups. Once the sculpting was complete, constructed a mold box from large Lego bricks and a baseplate, laid down a thin layer of plastilina clay, and alternated between building up the height of the mold box, and refining the bed of clay around the sculpture. I initially ran afoul on this project by not buying enough silicone Mold Star 15 Slow- I tried to cheap-out with the smaller sized containers of it when I should have just bought the larger buckets of the material. As a result, I didnโt have enough silicone to finish the first pour leaving me with a partially embedded sculpture. This required surgery to not only cut the wander stone sculpt out of the silicone, but I also had a breakage on the fingers and toes, so those had to be re-sculpted.
These young earthen spirits are cast in resin, using SmoothCast 66D, and Iโm using a process called slush casting (aka roto-casting). There are various contraptions and simple machines for this, but with the method Iโm using, I filled the larger front half of the two part silicone mold, secure the two halves together with several rubber bands, and slowly turn the mold in various practically random directions over the course of about 40 minutes. As you turn the mold in your hands, you can feel the liquid resin sliding along the walls inside of the mold. I try to manage the curing material inside in such a way that a bit more settles along the bottom so that the bottom is heavier. The reason for casting them in such a manner, making them hollow, is otherwise, they would be quite heavy and use an awful lot of material, making them fairly expensive to produce.
After the resin sculptures are cast, I refine them with files and sandpaper as well as sculpt some additional details onto each piece to make it unique and a glyph is also carved onto the forehead of these young wander stones. The glyph on the wander stoneโs forehead relates to some auspicious event that was occurring as they were being imbued with life.
The fantasy sculptures are then primed and hand-painted with acrylic paints. Finally, once the paint has dried, the wander stones are sprayed with a couple of coats of varnish and the eyes are glued into their sockets with some Crafterโs Pick glue. And when the glueโs set, the eyes are polished with a little rubbing alcohol applied on a q tip.
Wander stones are available through my web store.
Wander stones are drawn to the same resonances that cause other beings to live places which when enough of them gather, can be quite perilous. A small group of wander stones is called a ruckus and outside of the occasional nuisance of a few of them rolling or a sudden crash, isnโt anything to be concerned about. As these boulderous creatures gather, they tend to form themselves into piles when stationary, readjusting from time-to-time. Now, when wander stones congregate in greater numbers, 20-50 or more, they are referred to as a calamity, which has the potential to cause injury or death or could even cause a rockslide that flattens buildings or even entire villages. Some individuals take up the profession of a rock herd or a stone shepherd to drive a ruckus or calamity to more remote areas with the aid of a tuning-fork that they strike in certain pitches and rhythms that lures the beasts away.
Thanks for joining me so far and hereโs to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!
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